The ability to wash and dry baby feeding articles (such as baby bottles) in a sanitary manner is of utmost importance to parents. Traveling with children poses numerous difficulties in the ability to effectively wash and dry baby feeding articles. There is often no kitchen available and bathrooms while traveling are both limited in space and unsanitary. Parents who travel with young children subsequently need to use a bathroom sink and countertop to wash and dry feeding articles such as bottles, Sippy cups, pacifiers, small plates and bowls, and utensils. Further, baby feeding articles, such as bottles, have many parts. Often there is not ample space in or around a bathroom sink to wash and dry the articles properly. Drying baby feeding articles on an often limited countertop occupies valuable counter space.
From a sanitary standpoint, washing and drying baby feeding articles is problematic. Bathroom sinks may not be sanitary and parents may be reluctant to place baby feeding articles in an unsanitary sink during the washing process. Bathrooms are known to harbor bacteria, and it is known that bacteria from toilets can transfer to bathroom sponges, countertops, and sinks. One may try to cover a contaminated area such as a bathroom countertop with a towel when drying feeding articles, but towels do not drain water well and also may harbor bacteria.
There have been various attempts to facilitate washing and drying of baby supplies in a limited space. For example, drying racks with hooks for hanging have been proposed, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,237 to Chang, U.S. Pat. No. D417052 to Ancona, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,758,348 to Adkins Drying racks have also been proposed that are collapsible, such as U.S. Pat. No. 6,283,314 to Loguercio, and U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 20140263111 to Micek. Straining devices, such as colanders, have also been proposed to aid in air-drying of articles, such as U.S. Pat. No. 7,678,271 to Curtin, and U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 20070251874 to Stewart. The use of highly flexible straining membranes (such as plastic bags) to drain liquids from articles has also been use proposed, such as in U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 20110274807 to Haber.
Despite numerous types of washing and drying racks, there are various drawbacks with current baby feeding article washing and drying apparatuses. A significant drawback of current apparatuses is that they are limited in the types of locations where the apparatus can be placed. Some apparatuses require a hook, some require a basin, some are not easily collapsible or portable, and others take up too much space. The disadvantages of the current washing and drying apparatuses can be frustrating to the traveling parent who needs an easily portable apparatus that can placed in a variety of locations. Therefore, there remains a need to improve baby feeding article washing and drying apparatuses so that they are collapsible, maintain sanitary conditions, take a minimum amount of space when assembled, and can be hung or laid in a variety of locations, such in a sink, a towel bar, a curtain rod, or a hook. One skilled in the art will recognize many other benefits of this new portable washing and drying apparatus.